Harry Hems

A large part of the collection of medieval woodwork that he accumulated during his working life is now in the Royal Albert Memorial Museum in Exeter.

Born in Islington, London, the son of Henry Hems, an ironmonger and cutler, Harry Hems started work as a cutler before taking at age fourteen a seven-year apprenticeship as a woodcarver in Sheffield. Returning to London, he found employment in the construction of the Foreign Office building and the Langham Hotel. He then spent two years seeking inspiration in Italy, but was supposedly arrested as a spy and had to return to England penniless. On his return, however, he soon found work on the building of the Royal Albert Memorial Museum, in Exeter, Devon. When he arrived in Exeter on 4 December 1866 by train he said that he found a horseshoe on his way from the railway station, and kept it as a lucky charm. • Illustration — Hems's "Ye Luckie Horseshoe Studio", Longbrook Street, Exeter Hems married Charlotte Presswell Turner at Littleham, Exmouth in 1868, and settled in Exeter. He started a company there that specialised in ecclesiastical sculpture and church fittings, and named it "The Ecclesiastical Art Works". It benefited from the widespread restoration of churches that was taking place at the time: by 1879 more than 400 churches and 100 public buildings contained work that had been created by the company. The 1881 census recorded that he was employing 23 men and 7 boys, and because of the need for more space he commissioned the building of a new workshop on a two-acre plot at 84 Longbrook Street, Exeter. The architect was Robert Medley Fulford who had already worked with Hems on several ecclesiastical designs. The style of his new brick-built workshop has been described variously as "'domesticated' or modified Queen Anne Flemish", a "freely-treated Jacobean character", and "gothic styled but with several peculiar additions". Nikolaus Pevsner called it "fanciful". It opened in 1883 and was extended the following year. Hems named it "Ye Luck ie Horseshoe Studio". It extends over three floors and has a circular window in the gable facing the road that incorporates Hems's monogram. At the company's peak, after 1895, Hems employed over a hundred craftsmen, and also had staff in London, Oxford and Ireland. He lived next door to his workshop in a house, "Fair Park", with a prominent corner turret. Hems died on 5 January 1916, his wife having died the previous June. He is buried in Exeter's Upper Cemetery, his grave marked by a tombstone bearing a finely carved crucifixion. He was survived by seven children; a son whom he christened Lord Archibald died young. • Illustration — The screen at St Alban's Cathedral, restored by Hems • Illustration — The choir stalls in front of the organ at St. Andrew's Church, Fulham, London, were made by Hems

Hems was commissioned to produce work for many churches and several cathedrals throughout England, and in America and Australia. His work won medals at the Centennial International Exhibition in Philadelphia (1876), was exhibited at the Paris Exposition Universelle (1878) and also won prizes at exhibitions in Chicago (1893) and Antwerp (1894). Examples in Devon of notable work from Hems's workshop are the rood screen restorations in the churches at Littleham, Staverton and Kenn; the fittings at Winkleigh and Revelstoke; and the alabaster reredoses at Swimbridge and St Paul, Honiton. The firm contributed a reredos and choir stalls to the 1887–9 restoration of St Denys' Church, Warminster, Wiltshire, part of what Historic England describe as "an exceptional ensemble"; the pulpit with inlaid marble is also his. In Bristol, he completed the statues for the replacement of the Bristol High Cross in 1889. Probably his most notable work was the restoration of the large medieval screen at St Alban's Cathedral, Hertfordshire, which was dedicated on 1 November 1899, and the construction of a similar screen in Christ Church Cathedral in St. Louis, Missouri, USA. Apart from his work as a sculptor, Hems was keen on travel and was a prolific writer, claiming "to have written more signed articles upon architecture, travel and other subjects than any other man". He was also a benefactor of the poor—amongst other charitable work, for many years he held Christmas lunches in his workshop for the elderly poor people of Exeter, inviting as many each year as his age. He helped found the Exeter Dental Hospital; supported the Devon and Exeter Hospital; was a pioneer of the Hospital Saturday Movement (a national weekly collection scheme in aid of local hospitals); and supported the Rifle Volunteer force. In addition he was churchwarden at St Sidwell's church and was a city councillor for a period.

Hems was a hard worker – a report of 1879 said that "he is 'always at it' from six in the morning until nine at night, and often much later", and he expected the same level of commitment from his workforce, apparently resorting to violence against them if they would not comply. In October 1878 he was charged £1 plus costs for fighting with one of his employees, and the following year a court was told that he had said that he would "break [William Mears] in as he had several of his other apprentices". He was also reportedly a flamboyant and extroverted self-promoter, taking advantage of any marketing opportunities that arose. He has at least two well-known disputes with the Tax Commissioners. In September 1888 an auction of his goods on account of unpaid taxes took place at his workshop in which one of the lots was a life-sized statue of St Matthew the Taxgatherer. After he again refused to pay the assessed amount of tax in 1907, another auction of his goods was arranged. It took place on 29 April that year, and he prepared the auction catalogue himself. The sale items included the crowbar that had been used by the bailiffs to gain entry to his workshop, a set of old stocks ("offering accommodation for three malefactors"), three "second-hand tombstones (slightly damaged)... suitable for the graves of Income Tax Commissioners or other Revenue Officials", and his bulldog named Bob. According to his 1917 obituary, a sculpture of the Twelve Apostles was also included, and the event was widely reported at the time, with Hems making much of the way that he had made the Twelve Apostles pay his income tax. • Illustration — Bronze of King William III, at Clifton Street Orange Hall, Belfast by Harry Hems Hems was also a prolific contributor to newspapers, and journals such as Notes and Queries, and he retained cuttings of everything published that referred to him, in a series of at least 15 volumes of 400 pages each.